Wednesday, April 27, 2011

First calves!

An exciting day! The first calves were born! Kris came home right after he left in the morning - I thought something was wrong - but he was coming to get towels to dry off the little calves. (Oh, it was raining. Have I mentioned the endless rain?)

This is the way it works - at least three times a day Kris walks or drives in the pasture to see if he finds any calves. If a cow is having trouble, he helps her, but most of them just give birth unassisted.

He got a blue towel and a pink towel, I noted. They were the first ones he grabbed, but really - a heifer and a bull!

He at first thought they might be twins, because not only were they close to each other in the pasture, but he could only find one mother. This wouldn't be the best scenario, because when there are male/female twins in cattle, the heifer is infertile the majority of the time. However, he found the second mother later in the day. Hooray!

One mother was a heifer (her first calf, so now she's a cow) and one was a cow (which means she's already had a calf before.) The cow had plenty of colostrum to give, so he bottlefed them and they drank well.

So, the first two! About 298 to go, all between now and August 15. Kris' schedule for the next three months is pretty set. Ready, set, calve!

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Eight years ago, we quit our corporate jobs and bought a dairy farm in Michigan. We milk cows and raise alfalfa, corn, and three little boys. This year I'm a spokesperson for U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance. I love talking about farming - ask me anything!